Sven Vloedgraven has shown yet again that he can compete with top players from big name schools around the country.
Senior Bearcat Vloedgraven competed at the ITA Men’s All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla., this weekend. After losing his first match to 51st-ranked Nick Meister of UCLA, Vloedgraven rebounded by beating 66th-ranked Brennan Boyajian of University of North Carolina. He scored another victory against unranked Clifford Marsland of University of Tulsa, before bowing out to 14th-ranked Javier Garrapiz of University of Georgia.
Vloedgraven was one of only 16 players still alive from the field of 64.
‘I knew that every guy was going to be good at the tournament,’ Vloedgraven said. ‘I had to play well to get some wins, so I am happy that I was able to beat two good players.’
In his final match, the Bearcat came out firing, staking himself to a 5-3 lead in the first set before dropping 7-5. Garrapiz then rattled off four straight wins before winning the second set 6-1.
While the 84th-ranked Vloedgraven was pleased with his performance, he recognizes that he can continue to improve in some key areas.
‘The one thing I was not too happy about was that I was not able to serve out the first set against Garrapiz,’ Vloedgraven said. ‘I didn’t keep good depth and gave away the rest of the match, letting him take control of the point. That is what I need to work on to be able to beat players at a level that were at Tulsa.’
Binghamton University men’s tennis head coach Adam Cohen said that Vloedgraven did not appear overmatched, even against the higher ranked players. Like Vloedgraven, he is pleased with the performance but mindful of areas where the senior can improve.
‘He showed good mental strength in most of his matches,’ said Cohen. ‘He needs to do a bit better closing out games when leading, but overall it was a good tournament for Sven.’
It was Vloedgraven’s first foray into the ITA All-American Championship. He has risen in the ranks over the years, finishing last season with a No. 123 national ranking and starting this year with a No. 84 rank. He won a match in A-2 Singles at the Virginia Plus One Tournament two weeks ago, his first major competition of the season.
Next weekend Vloedgraven will once again be at the forefront as he defends his ITA Northeast Regional singles title. As the No. 4 seed in the region last year, the Bearcat faced six opponents, including four from Ivy League schools and one from fellow SUNY Stony Brook. The win gave him an automatic berth into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship, where he lost to the No. 27 player in the nation.
As the defending champion, even more is at stake this time. He finished last year ranked No. 2 in the Northeast region, and is looking to advance once again to the National Indoor Championship in early November.
The Bearcats will travel to Yale University for the ITA Northeast Regional Championship this weekend. The tournament runs from Thursday to Tuesday and will be the team’s second-to-last tournament of the fall season.